It is well known within the manufacturing industry to locate various geometric references on a workpiece, such as sheet metal parts and other stampings, by actuating a locating member between an extended position, wherein the locating member engages a workpiece, and a retracted position, wherein the locating member disengages the workpiece. Various types of locating members may be utilized depending on the geometric reference to be located. For instance, location holes provided in sheet metal parts may be located by locating pins. Retractable locating pins have been developed to automatically move in and out of apertures provided in sheet metal parts. Although locating pins are ideally suited for locating apertures within sheet metal parts, L-blocks may be utilized to locate a surface or an edge of a workpiece. This is done by attaching the L-block to the locating pin or an output shaft by which the locating pin is connected thereto.
Adjustment of the locating members can be rather cumbersome. Fine adjustment of the locating pin is typically not required since the locating pin must simply be long enough to extend through the location holes in the sheet metal workpiece. However, L-blocks do require fine adjustment, as L-blocks are typically utilized to abut a surface or an edge of the sheet metal workpiece. In order to provide fine adjustment to the L-block, shims are typically inserted between the L-block and the locating pin in order to properly locate the L-block with respect to the sheet metal workpiece. Unfortunately, shims are an inefficient method of providing fine adjustment to the L-block, as they are typically inaccurate and clumsy to use.
It would be desirable to provide a linear stroke adjustment to a locating device that was quick, simple, and accurate.